Blessed Are The Poor
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And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said: “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.
“Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied. “Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.
Luke’s rendition of these statements has a simplicity that is troubling.
What Did Jesus Mean?
“Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man!
In what possible sense could persecution be a blessing?
The Good of Hate
“But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation.
“Woe to you who are full now, for you shall be hungry. “Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep.
“Woe to you, when all people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets.
In what possible sense could good things be bad?
Negative Statements
Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets.
Bad becomes good when it points you to heaven.
The Aim
Remove far from me falsehood and lying; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me,
lest I be full and deny you and say, “Who is the Lord?” or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of my God.
Both poverty and riches comes with temptation.
What Is Our Sin?
So how do we repent of being rich?
Would We Want To?
And a ruler asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.
You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother.’ ”
And he said, “All these I have kept from my youth.”
When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “One thing you still lack. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”
We will not learn the virtue of poverty when we are rich.
We Need Less
But when he heard these things, he became very sad, for he was extremely rich.
If that command bothered you, then you heard it correctly.